My younger brother Ron and I were very big for our age. When people told Pop, "You have really good looking boys," Pop would smile and agree: "Yep, they're strong as an ox and nearly as smart."

Monday, July 02, 2007

"Scooter" Libby Commuted Sentence Triggers Democrat Hypocrisy Flood

When President Bush granted “Scooter” Libby clemency, the hypocritical screams of outrage by Democrats were expected. As always, their idealism is selective.

Barack Obama today released the following statement: "This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an Administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law."

Interestingly, Mr. Libby was never charged or convicted of compromising national security.

(Mr. Obama is very careless with facts. Remember he breathlessly reported a Kansas tornado had killed 10,000, when the actual death toll was about ten?)

When President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a fugitive from justice who never stood trial for the charges Clinton pardoned, the president and Hillary had received over a million dollars in political contributions from Rich's former wife, Denise.

However, the fact her husband dealt in “pay for pardons” that directly benefited her did not stop Hillary Clinton from declaring: "This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."

This was a commuted sentence, Hillary, not a pardon. What clear signal did it send when Bill pardoned a man who had never stood trial, Mrs. Clinton?

I think the signal that it sent is that you and your husband put principles aside when you and your political party are offered huge political contributions.

And you know your husband would never pass up a chance to get a contribution like a little hot sax from Denise Rich.

The eagerness of the Clinton's to accept contributions is probably something Marc and Denise Rich learned from the Chinese. (See here and here and here and here )

(Isn’t it remarkable how Johnny Chung and John Huang, and their illegal political contributions to Democrat leaders and the Democrat Party, have become part of the Democrat’s ethical amnesia? Do you ever wonder what happened to the over 100 witnesses who fled the United States to avoid testifying about the illegal campaign contributions? Apparently Democrats don't.)

Unlike Mr. Libby, Marc Rich had compromised United States security by illegally dealing with Iran. And of course, profiteering from those dealings to the extent that he avoided paying $48 million in income taxes.

Mr. Libby was convicted of having a bad memory, and Fitzgerald knew that Richard Armitage, who was never charged with anything, was the primary source of the leak, and Fitzgerald knew that before the investigation ever began.

The fact that it was well established that Valerie Plame was not covert by a "friend of the court" filing by the New York Times, NBC, and 34 other major media outlets clearly demonstrated that the leak by Armitage never compromised national security anyway.

Mr. Libby deserves a full pardon, and the Democrats should be ashamed of their hypocrisy.

See all of my other posts on these subjects, particularly the ones on Democrat hypocrisy and the Plame charade of justice, by clicking on the labels below.